Donald Trump has exerted more pressure on Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro, who accused the US president of ushering in a new “era of criminal naval piracy” in the Caribbean after Washington seized a Venezuelan oil tanker.
Late on Thursday, the US imposed curbs on three nephews of Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores, as well as six crude oil supertankers and the shipping companies linked to them. The treasury department alleged the vessels “engaged in deceptive and unsafe shipping practices and continue to provide financial resources that fuel Maduro’s corrupt narco-terrorist regime”.
The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has published a list of sanctions that includes three nephews of Venezuela’s president Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores.https://t.co/I5m6dBya2e
— DW News (@dwnews) December 12, 2025
The targeted vessels recently loaded crude oil in Venezuela, according to state oil company PDVSA’s internal shipping documents. Four of the tankers are Panama-flagged, with the other two flagged by the Cook Islands and Hong Kong.
In comments on Thursday night, Trump also repeated his threat to soon begin strikes on suspected narcotics shipments making their way via land from Venezuela to the US.
The comments come after the US seized a “dark fleet” tanker named the Skipper off the coast of Venezuela, sparking concerns among some US lawmakers that Trump is “sleepwalking us into a war with Venezuela”.
On Thursday, Maduro responded to the seizure, saying at a presidential event: “They kidnapped the crew, stole the ship and have inaugurated a new era, the era of criminal naval piracy in the Caribbean.” He added that “Venezuela will secure all ships to guarantee the free trade of its oil around the world.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the US would take the Skipper to a US port. “The vessel will go to a US port, and the United States does intend to seize the oil,” Leavitt said during a briefing. “However, there is a legal process for the seizure of that oil, and that legal process will be followed.”
Trump earlier told reporters that the US planned to “keep” the oil on board the tanker.
Trump proudly announces an act of piracy, with the US theft of an oil tanker from Venezuela bound for Cuba
This act of financial terrorism was aimed at starving Cuba of energy, worsening its blackout crisis and tormenting its populationpic.twitter.com/5vo65vD59b
— Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) December 10, 2025
Asked whether she viewed the seizure as an escalation of US pressure against Maduro, Leavitt said: “I think the president considers the seizure of the oil tanker as effectuating the administration’s sanctions policies.”
“Prolonged war is definitely not something this president is interested in,” she added.
Source: Agencies
